Attorney General Janet Reno and heads of several Native American tribes visited the Law School Saturday to participate in a conference on "American Indian Tribal Courts and Self-Governance."

"We are firmly committed to increasing self-determination for American Indian tribal governments by strengthening tribal justice systems," Reno said, explaining the position of the United States Department of Justice.

Speakers said that the philosophy of traditional tribal law is different from the basic tenets underlying the U.S. judicial system. Their discussions centered around understanding and reconciling the two systems.

"We don't even need to deal with guilt or innocence. All we have to do is get to the bottom of the problem and say 'How can we help you,'" said Robert Yazzie, chief justice of the Navajo Supreme Court, and a guest speaker at the event.

"The interchange that they [the speakers] are having is incredible," said Herb A. Becker, Director of the Office of Tribal Justice, and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

Becker said the purpose behind the conference was "to find out from tribes how we can best assist them in their judicial systems and to learn something from them."

Ray Halbritter, who represented the Oneida Nation, spoke about the difficulties American Indian courts have in gaining jurisdiction over non-Native American criminals.

Halbritter, who graduated from the Law School in 1990, said the current system of racial jurisdiction is an "injustice," and proposed that such courts be given geographic jurisdiction instead.

This weekend's convention is the third of its kind. Past conferences were held in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Salt Lake City, Utah.

"I feel really lucky to be able to participate in something like this," said Summer Bartholomew '99, a member of the Blackfoot tribe. "There's a tremendous amount of wealth to be found amongst these people."

Others said they thought the conference was extremely successful.

"It was valuable for opening up the line of communication between the federal government and the tribal leaders," said Angela R. Riley, a first year law student and a member of the Potawotomi tribe of Oklahoma. "The most interesting part was a discussion concerning reconciliation of tribal ideas and values in an adversary system."

"[The conference] has been very successful. There appear to be a lot of students. It is importance that this new generation is exposed to tribal matters," Mary C. Morgan, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, told The Crimson. "I think it's important that [Reno] is a spokesperson who is committed to tribal sovereignty."

The director of the Native American Students Association at Harvard, Lorie M. Graham, also said she thought the conference was effective.

"It's really about cooperation and respect and we're seeing that here today," she said.

Graham said she thought it was "beneficial to have Janet Reno here to express commitment to the tribal justice system."